Sony a6300 videos show off tech that may challenge last remaining DSLR strongholds

Sony has just announced the APS-C a6300, an update to the immensely popular a6000. Its technological advances seem poised to break down some of the last remaining strongholds of DSLRs. Sony has released videos demonstrating some of these features on the a6300, including one showing 8 fps live view bursts with AF tracking, a comparison of this mode vs. a DSLR, and another video demonstrating AF with subject tracking in 4K video.

Shooting fast action bursts with a DSLR-esque live feed

The a6300 potentially addresses one of the largest shortcomings of mirrorless cameras for action shooting: the often stop-motion playback of last-shot images, as opposed to a live feed, when shooting continuous bursts.* We recently reported on Nikon's calling out of this particular weak point of mirrorless cameras, so Sony's response in the a6300 today seems timely. Essentially, the a6300 offers a live feed in the EVF or on the LCD during 8 fps continuous shooting, in between short blackouts, with continuous AF. This should make it much easier to both pan the camera and still keep your subject in the frame, or keep your selected AF point(s) over your subject. Have a look at 1:00 in the video below.

Live feed with no blackout at all (a la Nikon 1) is arguably the holy grail for mirrorless, and though Sony hasn't quite gotten there yet, it's taken a giant step toward making action shooting as practical on mirrorless as on DSLR. Furthermore, as Heading of Digital Imaging Neal Manowitz correctly points out in the video clip below, these advances also mean that the advantages of EVF, like immediate exposure preview, can now be combined with the immediacy of an optical viewfinder during action shooting. Especially with the newly updated 120 fps EVF.

Ultimately, how well this live feed works for fast action shooting - especially compared to DSLRs - will be largely dependent on the length of those blackouts between shots. Our initial impressions are very positive though: the blackouts appear very short in duration as we shoot these boxers in action in our hands-on video here. Sony claims that the length of blackouts is competitive when compared to a $1000-class DSLR, and demonstrates this effectively in the direct a6300 vs DSLR shootout at 10:04 in the video below (courtesy of Dave Etchells):

While a comparison against a $1000 DSLR might seem like a relatively low bar, the fact that Sony is getting a live feed off the sensor at all in between shots at 8 fps represents significant progress in the realm of mirrorless cameras. In comparison, a DSLR doesn't have to do anything but return the mirror to get you this 'live feed' through the optical viewfinder between shots. This is one reason many action photographers have stuck with DSLRs: the live feed in between shots helps a photographer follow moving subjects to either keep them in the frame or to keep the selected AF point over the subject. The technology in the a6300 seems poised to remove DSLR's stronghold in this regard.

Autofocus subject tracking

The a6300 also appears to have impressive AF subject tracking accuracy, following not just the dog but the dog's face in the demo video above. We'll reserve judgement until we get our hands on one, but previous Sony cameras had a tendency to wander off to other areas of the subject when using general subject tracking, so the results presented in this video indeed appear impressive in comparison. The expansive 425-point array also mean the camera can track the subject to almost any point in the frame, and all of these points purportedly work with A-mount lenses mounted via a LA-EA3 adapter (we expect Canon mount lenses to work as well, with appropriate adapters).**

Autofocus in video

Sony has also released a video demonstrating impressive AF in 4K video recording with native mount lenses. There appears to be little hunting, with fast refocusing and even subject tracking available during movie recording. Have a look below.

This should be a boon for videographers, assuming Sony now allows one to easily specify the subject before tracking it. On the note of specifying a subject, it's a huge shame that a touchscreen isn't paired with this capable video AF system for focus point selection.

At least on paper, we think that these advances mark some significant progress for mirrorless (it's too bad we can't say the same for the a6300's ergonomics), and we'll be curious to see how the systems perform when we get our hands on a production a6300.

* To be fair, this isn't the first mirrorless to provide a live feed in between shots in bursts: for example the Nikon 1 provides a live feed with no blackouts at all. It's just the first larger-sensor camera to do so at such high frame rates, and with - it appears - very short blackouts.

** It remains to be seen if subject tracking is available in any mode save for 'Wide' with 3rd party lenses though: subject tracking has been severely limited with 3rd party glass on the a7 II and a7R II due to the inability of the photographer to specify the subject, since it's only available in Wide area mode.

Comments

It's nice to hear about the weather resistance, but are there any sealed e-mount APS-C lenses currently besides the newly announce G Master lenses?

The other thing I'm quite curious is, how viable is it to use a mirrorless in extremely dusty/wet conditions? I know the Olympus OMD EM5 and EM1 are sealed to handle even rain, but what about changing lenses in the field?

Based on the anouncement of a6300, I strongly believe that SONY will release an updated version of a7ii with copper-wired sensor of higher performance, more focus points, 4k video capabilities and higher fps of continous af

Ones again Sony creating something interesting and inspiring to enthusiasts photographers and to motivate other manufacturer to come up with something more of all around products. Recent attempts by the two DSLR’s big giants, shows they’re going in that direction, but they're still far from fulfilling end users wishes. From the spec’s of the a6300 and naming, it looks that there will be a 7000 or so with Five-axis Steady-Shot, touch screen, 4K @ 60 rate, etc. to be Sony’s APS-C top offering.

it seems an interesting camera to me, even if I am an happy eos 6d user.but i am curious to se how does it holds with canon lenses and the metabone adapter.I wonder that because it doesn't have any stabilisation in camera and the brand new lenses launched by sony do not have any stabilisation.personally I shoot a lot hand-held, so even if are beautiful lenses, are not very much useful to me.I am look for the a review with someone using it handheld ;)

QUESTION... how many of us portrait, wildlife, fashion and scenic photographers take continuous photos of sports cars bearing down on us at a high rate of speed?... NO THANKS Sony... my lowlight shooting Nikon D750 (30+ year Nikon shooter and never changing) is doing just fine at -3EV... and my 500+ photographic awards over on ViewBug will be climbing to over 600 very soon... ;)

I think there is a certain segment of the population who thinks of their brand (eg, Nikon) and their type of camera (eg, the single lens reflex mirror camera) as a religion that they must adhere to. For the rest of us, cameras are just tools, and there's no reason why you have to stick to one particular type of tool, or from one particular brand.

As for your comment "how many...take continuous photos of sports cars bearing down on us at a high rate of speed"...obviously, it's merely a demonstration of what this particular camera is capable of. What it points to is that for most people shooting in much more modest situations, the camera will handle it just fine. Besides, how many people regularly shoot in -3 EV light?

"...significant progress for mirrorless (it's too bad we can't say the same for the a6300's ergonomics)"

I'm glad to see dpreview can understand this. Sony is out of control with its idiotic design decisions. They're not thinking of usability and ergonomics. There's no reason not to have some more useful customization and controls. (Let's say it had just 2 more C buttons - why not. You don't have to use them if you don't like them). There's a whole empty canvas of area to add useful controls and experiment with innovation in UI, but instead we get nothing. This is ok for some $200 'stylish' models but is WAY out of place for serious cameras. They're complete and utter fools in that regard, I'm certain of it. The top model (a7 series) looks like some ridiculous apple toy.

Don't get me wrong I'm consdering the 6300 because I think it will surpass anything on the market in this range for video but the design is garbage.

you can assign c1 / c2 / AEL buttons plus you can customize the fn menu the way you like, customization is fine as it is, a touchscreen and the ability to record videos with the shutter button when in video mode would be welcomed.

Okay, how about battery life? I get over 1000 shots with my dslr. Do you offer radio trigger for flash? Third party TTL flash from phottix etc? Ultra wide lens like the Canon 11mm zoom? How is your after sales service and spare parts? or is this part of BATA (Buy and throw away) product?

I have 5 spare batteries for my a6000 which take up practically no room. I can shoot for 2 days with those. Plenty of off brand flash options for the camera. Phottix bring out a dedicated flash trigger in April and I've been using the older phottix flash trigger with the Newer brand flash units with great results.

A6000 user here. The multiple battery solution is a total PITA. Sure they don't take up much weight but you need to maintain a charge on all of those batteries. You either have five chargers or sit there switching out batteries every 4 hours. Yeah that's not a problem. I'll take decent battery life any day over pricey, hard to maintain and a hassle to constantly switch out multiple batteries.

"tech that may challenge last remaining DSLR strongholds" Please DPReview is there really that many photogs that have issue with the AF performance of their DSLR? I would bet that less than 1% of all photographers would claim to hate their current cameras AF Performance.

I use a Fuji S5, thus with a D200 body and AF, for what I do, I never missed a shot so far. Then I use a NEX-7 with AF lenses and adapters only, and here too, i get what I want. Only problem I have is low light shooting ability, the S5 is far better than the NEX-7, and both not sensitive enough, and A6300 being better, but still not enough better, I will probably go for the D500 which seems to be a real good low light performer, but first I wait tests to get this confirmed. And, take that video crap out of photo cameras and sell them a few hundred dollars cheaper. It is a shame that photographers have to pay video facilities in cameras even if they never use it.

I've only found out, just yesterday, that even the older a6000 has a fantastic Dxomark ISO score of 1350. That is pretty impressive for an APSC sensor (Fuji X100 has a 1000 score for example). To put it in better perspective - the 5D classic has a similar ISO score of 1368.

If the new a6300 scores a little bit higher, maybe somewhere in between the 5D classic(1368) and 5DII(1815), I would be very happy with this and wouldn't mind giving up my old FF camera for it.

Good for you. Having choices is great and we we're stuck with Canikon system for ages. I still think that you could wait a little bit more as Sony's lense selection get a little bit better.

Another consideration is if Sony will invest in cropped format or not. I'm not sure where the market is going, and I'm a little bit concerned that Sony might invest more heavily in Full Format Mirrorless cameras. After all, it seems that they are ditching their SLT cameras.

I remember people saying the saying dismissive things in the early days of the Canon EOS system: that a camera is about "heart" and Canon EOS cameras don't have it, while Nikon F cameras do. They dismissed Canon EOS cameras as being all about fancy technology, not about "heart". Now they are saying the same dismissive things about Sony.

Sony will not take over the market. They change too much in too short a time, which is due to their speed of innovation, or rather they make the decision to discontinue previous solutions if that is not beneficial for their new products.

Both Canon and Nikon have a very stable ecosystem with slow evolution of their products. Photographers that have invested in lenses can rely on the longevity of that investment with new cameras.

DPR is all about the tech boys, but tech is not always what drives market size. Sure, Sony will take a significant part of the pie, but they have a long way to go in terms of reliability. Both in their roadmap of products and backwards compatibility and in servicing. I don't think there will be a dominant company left. The cut throat competition will probably leave us with a few roughly equivalent camera companies (Canon, Fuji, Sony, Nikon).

@PhotoRotterdam - "Sony will not take over the market. They change too much in too short a time, which is due to their speed of innovation, or rather they make the decision to discontinue previous solutions if that is not beneficial for their new products."

Ironically, that's how Canon came to become such a dominant camera company. They completely dumped their Canon FD system, and started with a completely new Canon EOS system that had almost no backwards compatibility with their previous system, and they had an extremely fast speed of innovation that allowed them to catch up, and surpass other more established camera systems.

People have very short memories, or are completely un-aware of history.

Well certainly Sony board has more information about the market than us, so there is no clear answer fora yes or no, BUT, the current trend shows that many like Sony's innovative and market disruptive ideas and great cameras. They are a bit expensive and that's probably why they still cannot expect to have a larger cut from the market.

Let's me bet some scenarios for the future. Just as a thought exercise, for fun.

I don't see Sony taking over the market (I wouldn't be a fun scenario to have a monopoly). I'd bet that Sony eventually slow down, as Canikon starts to fight back in technology. They're not going to break because they are still in profit, even with the market shrinking fast. But their market share will drop significantly.

m43 would grow strong in videographers. Toshiba will grow as a niche photographer tool.

So, I'd bet in a 5 years: Canon-35%, Nikon - 20%, Sony 20%, Toshiba 5%, m43 15%, etc-5%. I'd also bet at this time mirrorless will sell more or as much as DSLR.

"Heart is within the photographer" I do agree with that! What Sony is doing is forcing Canikon to introduce cameras with technologies alike! Technologies that would have stayed on their shelves if Sony hadn't forced them to do so. All in all, that would all be to the benefit of end-user.

what's gears got to do with photography? It's everything. Sounds like you don't have an idea bringing large DSLR equipments with big backpacks walking and lugging anywhere like airport and tight events.

The internet Troll turns out to be whining toddler having tantrums pretending to be Mr. Perfect English only to make himself more humiliated as he couldn't even spell the word "The" correctly from multiple accounts. Eventually, worthy to be inducted on the English Grammer Nazi Halls of Shame.

Moral of the story: Enroll college Philosophy course and read about "argumentum ad hominem" before going out rampage pretending to be an expert in English and going out debating and trolling on the internet but only to end up humiliating oneself.

P.S. Can't even read "Edit" button at least review his self-proclaim perfect English Grammar and the simplest form can't even distinguish the precise spelling of the word "The". *facepalm* *headbang*

One of the main dSLR strongholds is not requiring battery power when composing a shot.

Which on a tripod - for me at least - can take 5 - 10 minutes between angles, off a tripod maybe even longer between shots - continually eyeing angles between - i.e requiring seeing through the viewfinder over that period.

EVF encourages rushing the process of taking shots, anyone who disagrees I believe is being disingenuous - or hasn't realised they are being quietly rushed.

To me the mirror - seeing the actual light freely available - not requiring battery power - is the real WOW - it was and always will be - it's the light from the actual subject.

...without turning the camera on all my Pentax lenses manually focus just fine without a battery - I just turn the mechanical focus ring

and then compose a shot for as long as I want, or refocus, without turning the camera on.

Camera batteries are rated in terms of photographs taken - which is only one part of the story, I can taken 800 photographs on a battery, but that's over 4 weeks of using a dSLR - a lot of looking through the viewfinder! - and not feeling rushed.

My EVF based GH4 lasts me 2 days with similar usage - worst of all I feel rushed - it really doesn't help.

The battery 'rating' in the GH4 is good, similar amount of shots to a dSLR but it needs recharging 12 times as often.

It is impressive where Sony has taken these engineering concepts, but then, I said the same thing when the Nikon 1 came out. I expected it would not be long before that tech moved to the Dx and Fx sized sensors, I was wrong, or perhaps, premature in my excitement. Just think about a FX sensor with IBIS, and DUAL IS in some cases trying to perform all the things we "desire". The processing power and battery power alone will be engineering wonders. It will be a time before these mythical Fx products appear, if ever, sadly.

Ansel Adams was known for the large amounts of time he spent in the darkroom touching photos up. He was doing in the darkroom what most of us are now doing in photoshop.People seem to think that Ansel Adam's pictures were pure and untouched but they were heavily modified. The endresult is still stunning by the way.

interesting. especially with the simpler cams (had the GF5) the customized touchinterface adds much to a positive user experience - for me. especially compared to similar cameras having no touch.but i have to admit it took me some time to see the usefulness.

Secondly, there's nothing wrong with a touchscreen. A good touchscreen interface works great! We live in a smartphone and tablet world. Do you not have a smartphone with a touchscreen? Or do you turn OFF the touchscreen on your smartphone, LOL.

Rishi - any word if the a6300 has UHS-II support? The slow write times with the A7rII is really frustrating at times, would be nice to see Sony start to implement this. I haven't seen it in the specs, and I'd assume it would be featured if that was the case.

The a7R II has UHS-II support. I think its slow write speeds have to do with something else?

Seeing as how the new a7R II and a7S II have UHS-II support (in fact require it for the higher spec videos), I'm pretty sure the a6300 does as well. But I don't think that guarantees fast write speeds for images.

I share your frustration. It's one of the worst things about the a7R II.

That's surprising, because looking at how fast other UHS-II cameras write, the A7rII really lags far behind. Top spec cards are completely wasted on Sony's and its frustrating 4k's top spec requires high speed U3 cards, but write speeds top out at about 36 MB/s while others like the NX1 (58+) and the EM5II (80+) write much quicker.

No worries, like I said really annoying how slow it can be at times. I'm interested in the a6300, but would really like to see write times improved.

It just sucks that you have to use U3 cards for 100mb/s video, but the camera doesn't take advantage of the speed otherwise. The fast cards I use in the A7s to record 100mb/s video can't do top spec 4k in the RII, so I was forced to upgrade. Just makes no sense.

I think that's a bit harsh. I use an a6000 and I definitely agree that the interface feels more like using a computer that can take photos than the kind of camera experience Fuji or Olympus offers. But once you've gone through the process of customizing your buttons and menus, the shooting experience becomes pretty pleasant, though yes, you'll still never shake off the feeling you're using a gadget than a dedicated camera.

I am a long time Canon DSLR user, and I also now use Sony mirrorless. As far as I can tell, they both operate like cameras and computer, because that's what they both are. If you really, really hate the notion of a camera being a computer, you should go back to using film. Digital isn't for you.

*Yawn* people used to say the same when film SLRs got AF and digital status panels and features like eye AF. People said the same when the first cameras with colour LCDs came out. People said the same when mirrorless cameras came out.

The camera has a full manual mode just like the good old days, the technology isn't forced on you. You don't have to install windows to take a photo.

Typical backwards looking "in my day" attitude. If people like you were in charge there wouldn't be computers to tell the world about how much a camera is like a computer.

Pentax has by far the best ergonomics and I've had 3 Nikons, a Panasonic and have used a couple of Canons. I've never shot the Sony, but I've held a few at stores and they feel weird, like they were made to fit a midget woman's hands. I can't quite get a comfortable grip on them.

Half the time when I'm taking photos I'm climbing mountains and would rather stick with big chunky knobs. Obviously this varies greatly for different people, but the only thing I think the touchscreen is sometimes useful for is focus point and even then I'd take a nice joystick on the back for accuracy.

I remember when my first SLR had a lightmeter that actually read *through the lens* OMG! (Miranda GT 1968). No camera today operates even remotely like those old 35s and Rolleis, and Speed Graphics, lol...not at all...I love touch-screens. Don't like it, turn it off :)

I generally dislike touchscreen interfaces on cameras. The one on the Nikon D5500 is functional, but unnecessary. And I hate the way Olympus bodies use the touchscreen to omit physical buttons. With that being said however, Panasonic's touchscreen implementation is really good, and Canon's touchscreen experience on its Rebel and 70D cameras is simply outstanding. It's so well thought out and integrated into my muscle memory that using a 7DmkII that omitted the touch feature felt like a step backward.

OMG.. so impressive! I'm sold!I'm going to dump my snappy DSLR and all my top lens right now..<thinking...thinking>

Wait, no way! I might wait for the A6<insert actual numbers> Mk<insert actual re-realease mark with bugfixes & minor upgrades> end of this year, the easily another "Camera of the Month" by Sony!..with more 576 AF point and more 12fps burst, etc. which finally will make all DSLRs useless bricks.. LOL!

Your DSLR won't be "useless", but it will still be a "brick", at least in size and weight. :)

I'm a long-time DSLR user myself. I know my DSLRs have not been rendered "useless" by mirrorless cameras such as the Sony A6300. However, I have chosen to use them less and less, because I've chosen to opt out of carrying around the brick weight my DSLR gear. Just my choice.

Can you shed some light on this? What is so awful about the sony system cameras? Every good photographer who tried it for MILC is seriously disappointed. Does it kill an offspring when you open the box?

@Daft Punk: I had it already..Im impressed at such certainty from someone who has missed the whole point of my post and apparently think that science and engineering is only progressing with the milc product lines.. LOL!

I see mirrorless as an alternative, not replacement for a DSLR. I have an injured right wrist, so even though I value having a full frame DSLR, I don't want to carry it around for everything. My Sony a5000 can do the job if the lighting isn't extremely dim and it's a much smaller, lighter and cheaper combination.

@kisvakoncl -"But those who still carry, carries with a good reason.. :)"

I see those reasons as being less and less with every passing year. Already, I don't use my DSLR gear much anymore.

"When they solve all the stupid problems of milc, maybe will be on pair with DSLRs.. but we are still far from there to be honest."

Still far from there? I've been conducting an experiment on myself, living with both DSLR and mirrorless gear for the past couple of years, just to see which gear I reached for the most. I overwhelming use my mirrorless gear the most often. My DSLR gear, not so much anymore. "Still far from there"? I think we're already there, or very close to there. In fact, one of the reasons I mainly use my MILCs is for the things that they can do that my DSLRs *can't* do (face detection AF, focus peaking, focus magnif, exposure preview, smaller size, etc). In many ways, DSLRs need to be able to "get there". That's been my experience.

@kiskgjnribmthat's a split personality post if I ever saw one.Seriously, who did this to you?You want it but you don't. Sony should do better so you would, except no way sony's going to fool you again?

It's the frequency of lines used to generate MTF curves across the frame (or radially outward to be exact) for iteration of lens design if I understand correctly. It's correct, no missing zeros. Most others show MTF curves for 30 lines/mm when it comes to resolution (10 lines/mm for contrast).

"Huge car coming straight to wards camera" On watching the car video a second time I noticed that the AF points do not stay on the same part of the car, but jump several meters from front to the rear as it turned. I wonder what it would do if it had been 2 dirt bikes for example ? Jump from the right one to the "wrong" one alongside ? Certainly an easy task for the camera here.....

The cars do not seem to be driven very quickly , certainly no where near racing speeds, if they were at full throttle I would not get more than 3-4 still shots at 6fps an such a short distance travelled, regardless of camera being used. Bright day, short focal lengths camera on a tripod, not exactly a hard case for focusing ability.

Once again Sony takes two steps forward and one step back. The new EVF, improved AF, awesome video specs, Slog3 and so on are awesome - but then there's no headphone jack to monitor the great audio courtesy of the new (or old if you're a Nex user) mic input and all those wonderful AF points dancing across the frame but no way to quickly change subjects or focus point. This is especially annoying when shooting video and my favorite feature of a number of other cameras, just touch the screen to move focus. The new PADF should be really accurate and make racking focus a breeze.

Lack of sealing at this price, one control dial?? No touch screen with a video centric camera?? Two steps forward one back was being kind, I would say one forward two back, simply because the competition are all improving as well. To ask $1k for a non sealed camera with one control wheel is horrible, especially when one has to shell out a lot for the best E mount glass.

@Brian, it does have partial weather sealing, just not completely weather and dust-proof. It also has two control dials, the main top dial, and the rear wheel. Just that the NEX-7 did one better by having two top dials so you can use the rear wheel for direct ISO control without needing to press a button first.

As for the lack of touchscreen, that's a legitimate complaint. But for video, the AF tracking capability is very good on the a6000 and a7 series that you're probably better off letting the camera do it. I tried it last weekend and it was able to track my subject perfectly even while I was moving. Still, you're right, and having a touchscreen would have made things better.

But the spec sheet does claim the body IS weather sealed. Probably not to the level of a flagship DSLR, but it certainly ought to be able to handle a day at the beach or in the rain. Especially given that this is the first Sony mirrorless explicitly claimed to have weather sealing. The original marketing copy for the A7 claimed weather sealing, but it was quietly withdrawn after being proven false. The real question is what existing FE lenses are weather sealed? I don't remember seeing rubber gaskets on the Zeiss 24-70 f4.

I checked your photos and they are superb. Great story, gorgeous pictures. Film unquestionably has a look and feel that cannot be emulated in digital. In the hands of a capable photographer it can be supreme. Beyond that, the vision of the photographer trumps all. Leave the gear to the gearheads!

Yeah amazing shots there Marcus! I shoot film in B&W, and was mostly using a Kodak Gold for colour, so it doesn't quite have that cool, yet contrasty look from your shots. I have a roll of Fuji as well, I should pop it in after finishing my current roll of Agfa!

Where did you take the photos at? Looks like Sg Buloh, but I'm just guessing.

VSCO does a pretty good job with Fuji 400h in Lightroom. It is pretty slick to have 100s of film choices to apply to the raw information from the sensor. I don't think you're missing out on much though if you already have a good rig. The next Fuji x100 is what I'm interested in so I always have a good small camera with me everywhere. Find a camera you like and use it. When there are 50 megapixel sub 1000 cameras that have a great human interface then you would probably be missing out still on film.

thanks for the compliments guys. @bernardly thanks for the add. @thermidor it is :-) try using those porta/fuji 400 h if ur want amazing skin tones. @nick seal . hmm yeah i have that whole VSCO set, but frankly its super frustrating trying to get the film look. VSCO tries its best. In the end i decided to let digital be at its best (Clean, commerical, look) and film for life and portrait stuffs.

This, for $1K? I might finally be able to get into wildlife photography. Oh wait, there are no FE "big gun" wildlife lenses... Drat. I wonder how well this AF system works with a Canon super-tele... If the A7R II's adapter EF-FE performance is any indicator, it won't be too shabby...

Matthew, looking at your website and DPR gallery, you don't need long tele lenses or fast AF, so don't worry about it ;-) I use Canon super tele lenses on a Sony NEX and AF still doesn't interest me, but this camera does for other reasons.

You seem to be all worked up over something you don't need for some reason :-)

I have an a6000 (and it's been great for family and baby and travel shots) but I gave up waiting on Sony to give me a native E-mount lens. I tried the LAEA4 with A-mount lenses and I didn't like it. Maybe this could work with the LAEA3 and A-mount super-tele lenses.

In the meantime, I'm happy with my refurb D7100 + Tamron 150-600 (but I want the Nikon 200-500!) for about what the A-mount 70-300 lens costs.

@Nzmarco, I've had this discussion before with folks who tried to point out the same thing. My answer is, I simply haven't had my mid-life crisis yet, but when I do, I'll definitely NOT be "wasting" my money on a Harley or a Porsche, I'll be buying a big fat super-tele lens and going on an African safari. Just because I haven't photographed it yet, doesn't mean the dream isn't there. :-)

You're right, with this many AF points, folks who are used to conventional AF point control are going to be frustrated unless there are a LOT of "point-skipping" options for moving their selected AF point. A touchscreen would have been amazing for AF point control, from what I hear from Rishi at DPR.

There are plenty of ways to hold / mount a camera that leaves either your right or left hand free to touch the touchscreen. But, you do have a good point. I have yet to get much experience with touchscreen AF point control, and with a huge long lens that requires support, it might be impractical unless you're on a tripod or monopod.

I own a Samsung NX500, the best thing to do with touch monitor is to input the wifi password. you can't even use touch to netvigate the menu, the screen just 3". think about it peoples, don't mess up iPhone with a camera which need both hand to hold with

I don't have any problems holding the lens with my left hand and taking shots with my right hand by touching the screen. It is not any worse than hitting the shutter button. I don't have to press hard.

benny_wong, The touchscreen also fires the shutter on other cameras with this feature. You don't need three hands or whatever you're trying to say. Touching the screen is the same as releasing the shutter, with the camera focusing where you've chosen. It's a really fast and effective way to focus on your chosen area of the frame, without the camera deciding for you.

The a6200 had IBIS, touch screen and proper splash-proof weather sealing. It was dropped because it was too perfect and bad for repeat business. It would also kill the APS-C DSLR market and that would offend existing customers.#notserious

They will be released after the A6300 in Europe only as slight downgrades to the A6300, but have touch screen on one, and a headphone jack on the other, both missing the new AF system, with all three missing one of those new wonderful components. Then they will release the A6200 in USA after 4 months of customers wanting it, then the A6100 a week later 'due to popular demand'. Or, something.

No, you don't have a "total black-out of the EVF" with A6000. It'll be showing the previous frame of the burst. It's not optimal for following a subject unless it's moving predictably given that means some lag, but it's far from useless as well.

The videos are nice. The tracking is the most impressive amoung MLI. But if in the middle of shooting video, you want to change the focus point, you have to use the thumb pad step..step left step...step down and recording all the garbage in between, w/o a touch screen to control the AF pt.

Yeah... lack of touchscreen is a real shame, as is a lack of a dedicated AF point joystick/control. There are so many nice UI elements you could design for AF point selection, I don't understand why we don't see much creativity here, or outright ignorance of its need altogether as is the case here.

Like Nikon's new high density AF sensor, not all points are selectable. Most of them work behind the scenes. You can use an AF box that can be adjusted to 3 different sizes and moved around the screen, but doesn't really represent any single or group of AF points.

Yeah I'm glad you guys said something. It's still stuck in my head as I type, and I'm pining to find other music to listen too immediately after I finish this post, so it's stuck in my head instead. Then, I'm going to have some wine, put on "The Martian" and shoot some couch shots with my Canon 6D at ISO 25,600 that I'll end up deleting. Awesome.

Not everyone demands it, but it seems like a natural fit to assign AF point, particularly because there's only unfortunate compromises to assign them with the current control system. Even stuck-in-the-mud CaNikon are going that way with their top of the line DSLRs.

Not all customers demand it, but for some customers not having it is a deal breaker.

Honestly, the cat's out of the bag. The D5, D500, D5500 and 1DX II have one. The 5D IV will have one. All M4/3 cameras this directly competes against have one. The NX1 has one. Touch screens are an ergonomic user interface feature that appeal to amateurs and professionals alike.

You mistake one thing, 1DX2 can do 16 fps in "live view mode", but not with any live view feed on LCD during high speed continuous shot.So, for fps, it is 11 fps vs 16 fps, 1DX2 is 50% faster, not twice.

btw. 1DX2 can do absolutely no AF-C during continuous shots in live view mode, while a6300 (and a6000) can do 11fps with AF-c

The question is why would I need that in LV mode on a 1DX2... it has a pretty excellent optical view-finder afterall.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for seeing technological improvement in mirrorless cameras... just the comparison with a 1DX2 is a tad "tainted" in many regards...different target audience and respective needs... Whilst for work I don't need high FPS mostly with what I shoot - I need SOLID cameras... proven, tried and tested ergonomics I can operate without much thought or fumbling through menus.I need a camera that works. works, and keeps working - even in dusty conditions etc.also a bit of weight isn't a bad thing ergonomically - especially once you start attaching heavier lenses.

I strongly suspect that, for focus tracking (though maybe not acquisition) the 1DX2, and the D5 for that matter, will prove slightly better than this camera. I could be wrong, but I've got at least a little bit of faith in Canon and Nikon's decision to not abandon OVF and off-sensor phase-detect just yet. However, I definitely also believe that with technology like the A6300 AF coming out, the days are numbered. I bet at the next Olympic Games we'll see at least a few of these little Sony Alpha's...

No the 1D X II does not do 16 fps with Live View. It does it with everything blacked out - you can't even see what you're pointing your camera at.

Matt - agreed. Most mirrorless to-date still underperform in continuous drive modes. Which isn't to say its their C-AF that's underperforming, but more that AF likely has trouble making measurements off the same sensor that's being used to record the image. That image sensor has to constantly switch from image capture mode to whatever read-out mode is necessary to make focus measurements &track subjects, & during bursts I think that becomes difficult.

I believe this is partly why we noted extremely impressive C-AF with the a7R II, but decreased performance during actual bursts. With fast erratic subjects there'd be a whole bunch of shots in focus, then a whole set out of focus until the camera realized it was out of focus and refocused, then a whole bunch of shots in focus, etc.

Its has nice specs but specs aside, the ergonomics if similar to the A6000 stink for anything more than street photography or casual use. I tried one out in the store and could not believe how uncomfortable it was to hold for any period of time. Way too small for large telephotos, not enough body to grip without feeling like you may drop it if you have man sized hands. I am waiting for someone to build a larger body with much more battery capacity.

Unless you don't or cannot use a gimbal or monopod. I shoot handheld all day with a 70-200mm and I added a grip to my 7D to make it MORE comfortable. Smaller is bad for ergonomics. I hope when Canon finally builds a pro level mirrorless they will start with a body the size of the 7D because for me, anything smaller is uncomfortable for anything but casual shooting.

Unfortunately, you are in the minority on that one by a long shot. Unfortunately, I'm in that minority too at least part of the time, but not all of the time.

If at all possible, I'd highly recommend getting at least an ultralight monopod though. I shoot weddings full-time and even I thought that a monopod for my 70-200 2.8 was impractical, but after about 10 years my shoulder really started acting up from the same "stance" in supporting that lens, and I started using a monopod more. It has worked wonders for my shoulder, and is rather easy to do even in fast-paced scenarios. I was quite surprised at how easy it was to use a monopod in all sorts of action conditions.

It's a demonstration of video tracking from the actual camera - what else would we use to quantitatively evaluate it? We have tracking examples from other cameras so they can be compared. Part of that evaluation includes comparing the DOF used to see how wide the AF tracking envelope is.

If you think you can use a promo video to assess the quality of the AF system, good luck to you! To properly assess it (and compare it to anything else) you have to have a proper controlled test, lens focal length, aperture, AF settings, codec, camera set up, environmental conditions, etc. etc. this is a piece of video that demonstrates the concept... it might be crap, it might have a 1 mile wide DoF, but I wouldn't go around saying it was based on a marketing video.

Classifying it as a promo video doesn't affect its applicability unless you believe Sony rigged the demonstration. I'm taking the video at face value, no different from any other source, which again includes comparing the DOF vs competing models in order to discount and compare its performance to other models.

This was a sensor/software update, not a body update.Very opportunistic update for sony since they made the sensor for the Xpro2. It should carry a6000 users over for a year or so until the dust settles and sony figures out where it wants to go with APSC. Also, it should give a clue on how the Fuji XPro2 scores in the DXO metric. ;-)

In my personal opinion, the idea of touchscreens has spoiled many photographers trying to shoot video. I get the simplicity and ease of use behind it, but I personally can't see an actual film crew using a touchscreen camera to shoot a film. The A6300 will probably be able to utilize Eye AF in AF-C so you could probably get tack sharp videos and interviews every time (with my A7Rii I have no problems with the AF-C in video in both Eye AF and non-Eye AF uses) so this should feasibly perform quite well in those cases, and an incredibly high functioning auto-focus system that will work for others (and then there's focus magnification and peaking in manual/DMF).

Touch screen is not only for touch-to-AF pull, but for touch-to-magnify while recording to adjust focus with MF especially when filming with excellent MF lenses with real focus rings. Touch screen is excellently useful for solo video shooters; all Sony/Canon/Panasonic video cameras have brilliant touch operability for decades: I guess there is good reason. Of course, excellent face detect AF-C mitigates the pain of no touch screen, somehow.Sony alpha cameras are the only cameras with great video features without touch screen, really weird. The masses will not buy no-touch screen cameras any more.

so...Sony FF has the R line for resolution, the S line for sensitivity, and the all-a-rounder line (a7 i/ii).now Sony has 'made' a new premium line EF mount and the new AF marvel a6300. mighty interesting stuff from Sony.could we expect a new Sony FF "a?" line for fast fast action or will the fast focusing stuff of the a6300 remain on APS-C and/or simply 'trickle' up to current FF line.

Looks promising! As the original A6000 already was and still is! But Sony what about lenses... The are HUGE, most of them. They are EXPENSIVE beyond being realistic. This could be an awesome sports-camera. But there is a lack of bright tele lenses for these ape-c bodies. I mean + 300mm

I know there is a 300mm/f2.8. But Sony should make more APS-c lenses which you can use without an expensive adapter.

Also Sony full-frame lenses are in no way more compact as dslr lenses.

A 100-300mm f3.5/f5.6 lens for the A6300/A6000 etc must be possible.

The same with the Sony A7 bodies. Marvelous cameras, sensor and technique! But those lenses.. Big, heavy, expensive. Lucky you can use many manual focus lenses, like some pancakes. But without AF of course.

I mean Sony is on the roll, they do a really good job. And yes there are quiet some lenses now. But I miss more pancake primes and more.

Long tele lenses will be similar in size and weight when designed for FF or APS-C. Hence why you won't see long APS-C tele lenses for Canon or Nikon bodies either. There's simply no point designing them when the FF version will look and do pretty much the same.

After Metabones FW upgrade, Canon 50/1.4 finally started to work, somehow (even though it was not supposed to, at all, according to the note on Metabones site at the time of my purchase). But that's about the only positive change.

And I'm talking about shooting in good light. So... out of all my Canon glass, the only practical value is 70-300 DO for compressed landscapes.

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